Bethesda teens ready for spiritual journey of lifetime

Three teens and three adults fromThe Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Seaare planning a pilgrimage next month to the ancient El Camino de Santiago in northern Spain. It’s a spiritual journey made possible by parish-wide support.

“The idea of Christians doing pilgrimages goes back to the earliest days of the church, to the third and fourth centuries,” said Greg Knight, director of Children and Youth Ministries at Bethesda.

Knight asked his students to determine where God was calling them to go on their pilgrimage, what their budget would be and how they’d carry it out.

The Iona in Scotland and a reservation in South Dakota were also on their list before they decided on the El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage. Their goal is to walk the last 62 miles (100 kilometers) of the 500-mile Camino, averaging 13 miles a day over five days. Terrain will range from paved to a dirt path through eucalyptus trees.

From June 16 through 23, they will travel to Spain and then trek from the Town of Sarria to the Cathedral of Santiago, with morning and evening prayers and meditation enhancing the experience until the final pilgrims’ Mass at the cathedral.

“They felt an attraction to that sense of history, of purpose, of the journey,” Knight said. “You are walking on dirt that millions of Christians have walked on in past millennia.” St. James preached the Gospel there and Pope John Paul II visited.

The Bethesda pilgrimage group is composed of young people in grades 9-12 who’ve been working all year to raise money for the trip. Madie Anderson and Aleksi and Emma Turrki will be accompanied by three adults: Knight, Lisa Anderson and MariaTurrki. Among the fundraisers for the $15,000 trip was a Bethesda Mardi Gras party with live New Orleans jazz. Donors who gave money for "shares" are entitled to benefits; some will receive a dinner and a scallop shell (the symbol of the Camino) as honorary pilgrims.

Anderson, 18, saw a movie called The Way, about the Camino pilgrimage with her mother. “It seemed like a great opportunity to do something that we had on our bucket list,” she said.

“God worked in strange ways to make this a possibility, so it was really neat.”

She finds it moving to follow in the footsteps of so many believers, including thousands of faithful who walked the path during the Middle Ages and the Crusades.

To boost their stamina for the trek, she and her mom have been walking at Jonathan Dickinson State Park. And Knight took the students on a wilderness walk through the park.

Anderson, who along with Aleksi and Emma Turrki attends Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach, will carry a 20-liter backpack with just a few shirts and pants, toiletries and a bedroll. “We are seniors and this is the big sendoff, the first big challenge of my adult life,” she said. “I have never done something like this so challenging, so out of the box that way, it’s a growing opportunity of me.”

Said Knight: “What I find amazing is that the enthusiasm they have for the trip has really affected the upcoming class for next year. I’ve had so many kids say, ‘I saw what you’re doing and … I really want to do it. I can’t wait to do that when I’m in that age group.’ It has energized our youth ministry here.”

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Spiritual renewal — Chabad of Northern Palm Beach Island will celebrate Shavuot with a reading of the Ten Commandments and a complimentary dairy meal with blintzes, cheesecake, ice cream and more at noon Sunday at The Chesterfield, 363 Cocoanut Row.